Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 25513
Creation of non-removable horizontal rule in document
Last modified: 2013-08-07 14:41:21 UTC
I do not know how to reproduce this, but I currently have a horizontal rule which cannot be deleted (at least not in any obvious way). The caret cannot be placed on the rule and if a selection spans the rule and is subsequently deleted, the rule remains. Backspace does not work. If I show non-printable characters, nothing special appears for the line itself. It is as if the word processor no longer recognises the entity in the document but it remains there for rendering purposes. I managed to cut'n'paste it into a second document (attached) which seems to retain these properties.
Created attachment 13151 [details] Simple test document with non-removable horizontal rule.
And I have tried saving the file and restarting OpenOffice and it still persists. If this turns out to be a 'feature' then may I suggest that this behaviour is somewhat confusing (and will you be so kind as to tell me how to delete the damn ruler as I have one in an important document :)
The simple rulers are no objects but a hard formated border of the paragraph. You must turn off the border. In your attached file there a some consecutive paragraphs which such a border, you have to correct them all.
Okay, I feel suitably embarrassed now. There is however still a UI issue here in my opinion. When I entered the 'horizontal rule' I did so by simply typing 4 consecutive dashes (this must be a short cut enabled by default). I do find it somewhat confusing that something which can be conceptually initialised by simple key-strokes (rather than using a menu) cannot be undone by simple keystrokes alone. I would certainly have preferred if the UI had warned me of its actions when I first did this (as happens for auto-correction et al). Perhaps this should really be a UI enhancement request then.
reassigned to mci
Hi hagbard, thanks for using and supporting OpenOffice... You found the "apply border" feature ( a part of AutoCorrect)... out of the help: "Automatically applies a border at the base of the preceding paragraph when you type three or more specific characters, and then press Enter. To create a single line, type three or more hyphens (-), or underscores ( _ ), and then press Enter. To create a double line, type three or more equal signs (=), asterisks (*), tildes (~), or hash marks (#), and then press Enter. The following table summarizes the line thickness for the different characters: --- 0.5pt single underline ___ 1.0pt single underline === 1.1pt double underline *** 4.5pt double underline ~~~ 6.0pt double underline ### 9.0pt double underline" You can get rid of the line by (at least ) 2 ways: 1. press ctrl + z right after the hotizontal line appears ( which is the best way in my opinion...) 2. Select the text and choose "Format" ->"Default" Other hard formatting (like bild,...) will be lost, too!
Firstly, I accept that this is no longer an issue, but in regard to the last comment; whilst CTRL-Z is a good way to get rid of it, it only works if you perceive the border as a problem as soon as you've typed it. I actually left it in, thinking it was a horizontal line (which is what Wikipedia does with consecutive dashes) but then much later found it to be non obvious to remove. Unlike having '* Foo' automatically apply a bullet point, which is removable using backspace, having something apply meta information to the paragraph itself as the result of interpretting normal typed characters was a little surprising to me. Don't worry about replying to this, I'm not interested in arguing this point too far, but felt I needed to say something (I'm hardly computer illiterate and find myself surprised when a UI manages to trip me up in this manner). Many thanks for doing such an excellent job on OpenOffice and please keep up the good work.
Hi hagbard, thanks for your fast response... I agree this is not very intuitive... I make this an enhancement wish to make it possible for the user to disable this feature and change the summary to "make it possible to choose if autocorrect shall apply borders"... reassigned to bh
A third "fix" is to mark the paragraph(s) affected and select Format > Paragraph. Then go to the Borders tab and remove the underlining. This will remove the line without affecting other formatting features. I had previously reported this and felt it was an error in the help files. I have been thinking about it a lot and feel it deserves being handled as a bug or an rfe since the current method reproduces the amazingly repeated underlines that MS Word puts out -- a royal pain, if there ever was one. Setting the underline should have exactly the same effect as Format > Paragraph / Borders and selecting an underline FOR THAT PARAGRAPH O-N-L-Y!!! The present method changes the underlying style, giving paragraph after paragraph of lines which both confuses the user and leads to major frustration. Please look into this and see if it can be fixed -- both the help files and the effect on styles. It should be a one-paragraph change only and no more.
See also Issue 20979
*** Issue 20979 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
I have experienced similar frustration in removing an inadvertently-inserted line (OOo 1.1.2, win 98). Removing the (counterintuitive) border through the paragraph format dialog only pushes the line up one paragraph. This is too much work to delete something inadvertently and casually added to the document. I threw up my hands and switch to MS Word for this particular document. In my view, (1) the auto-line should -not- be default; (2) automatic insertion of the line should be accompanied by a warning box that stresses the difficulty or practical impossibility of removing the line and urging the user to CTRL-Z to avoid further problems; (3) horizontal line should be made deletable by conventional, intuitive method, e.g. click to select, then <DEL>, or backspacing over it. (4) the issue should be clearly addressed in the Help system. Having said all that - which is mainly about useability - in my particular case I simply cannot delete that horizontal rule as it just bumps up a paragraph each time I delete that border format - which is without doubt a bug.
see issue 17758 for information why "the line moves one paragraph up" regarding the "warning": when autoformat happens, the help-bulb appears. regarding documentation in help: see issue 23770 I mark this issue as duplicate. If there are issues left, please file a new one. Multiple requests are invalid. *** This issue has been marked as a duplicate of 21299 ***
closing duplicate.